Arthritis: Why Your Joints Have Their Own Weather Report

The Chinese Medicine View

Arthritis has a nasty habit of making itself known at inconvenient times.

Your knee is fine on Tuesday. Wednesday it rains, and suddenly it has opinions.

Or perhaps your hands are stiff every morning, your hip complains when you stand up, and your shoulder has decided that reaching for something on the top shelf is an unreasonable request.

Western medicine uses the word arthritis for many different conditions involving joint pain. However from a TCM point of view, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and other forms of arthritis are not the same disease and may require very different medical treatment.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, joint pain is often discussed under the general category of Bi syndrome—a blockage or obstruction affecting the normal movement of Qi and Blood through the muscles, tendons, and joints.

But that blockage can happen in several different ways.

And that's why your neighbor's miracle arthritis remedy may do absolutely nothing for you.

The Cold, Achy Kind

Some arthritis clearly hates winter.

The joints feel:

• Cold

• Stiff

• Achy

• Better with warmth

• Worse in cold weather

A heating pad feels wonderful. A cold, damp morning does not.

Chinese medicine traditionally describes this type of problem as Cold and Damp obstructing the channels.  Cold contracts. Dampness makes things heavy and sluggish. 

Warming herbs and herbs that encourage circulation through the channels may be considered for this pattern.

A traditional formula such as Du Huo Ji Sheng Tang is sometimes used for chronic painful joints, especially when pain occurs together with underlying weakness or deficiency. But it isn't a universal arthritis formula.

Someone with hot, red, swollen joints might need an entirely different approach.

The Hot, Swollen Kind

Other joints behave as though they have developed a personal grudge.

They may become:

• Red

• Warm or hot

• Swollen

• Tender

• Painful to touch

This is more consistent with what Chinese medicine calls Damp-Heat.

Instead of warming the area, the treatment principle is generally to clear Heat and reduce Dampness.

This distinction matters.

Giving strongly warming herbs to someone with hot, inflamed joints can be rather like putting another blanket on someone who already has a fever.

Not helpful.

The Pain That Doesn't Move

Sometimes arthritis settles into one particular location and refuses to leave.

The pain may be sharp, fixed, or stabbing. There may be considerable restriction of movement, especially after an old injury or many years of joint degeneration.

Chinese medicine may interpret this as Blood Stasis.

In TCM, healthy Blood should circulate freely. When circulation becomes obstructed, pain tends to become more fixed and intense.

Blood-moving herbs may sometimes be included in formulas for this type of chronic pain.

A traditional formula such as Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang is associated with painful obstruction involving Blood Stasis, although the exact formula should be selected according to the person's entire pattern—not simply because a knee hurts.

The Wandering Kind

Then there is the joint pain that apparently can't make up its mind.

Monday it's the shoulder.

Tuesday it's the knee.

Wednesday the wrist joins the conversation.

Chinese medicine traditionally associates wandering pain with Wind.

“Wind” is a traditional concept used for symptoms that move, change quickly, or appear unpredictably, just like the wind.

When Wind combines with Cold and Damp, joint pain can wander from place to place.

This is another good example of why Chinese medicine pays attention not merely to whether you hurt, but how you hurt.

Arthritis and Aging

As we get older, Chinese medicine often looks beyond the painful joint itself.

The Liver and Kidneys have an important traditional relationship with the bones, joints, tendons, and overall strength of the lower back and legs.

A person may therefore have arthritis together with:

• Weak knees

• Lower-back weakness

• Reduced stamina

• Muscle weakness

• General frailty

• Chronic rather than sudden pain

This may suggest an underlying Liver and Kidney deficiency in addition to the obstruction causing pain.

In these cases, treatment may have two jobs:

Reduce the obstruction causing pain and strengthen the body's underlying reserves.

This is one reason formulas for chronic arthritis in an older person may contain both pain-relieving herbs and tonic herbs.

Damp Weather Really Can Matter

People with arthritis have been blaming the weather for centuries.

Chinese medicine never found this strange.

Dampness is one of the traditional external factors associated with heavy, swollen, persistent joint pain. Many patients report that their joints feel worse during cold or damp weather.

If your joints consistently become heavier and more painful when the weather turns damp, a Chinese medicine practitioner considers that useful information.

Why There Isn't One Chinese Herb for Arthritis

This is perhaps the most important point.

Suppose five people all have knee arthritis.

One person's knee is cold.

Another's is hot and swollen.

A third has sharp pain from an old injury.

A fourth has heavy aching pain that worsens in damp weather.

The fifth is 82, has weak legs and lower-back soreness, and has slowly worsening knee pain.

Western medicine may identify osteoarthritis in all five knees.

Chinese medicine may see five different patterns requiring five different treatments.

That's why asking:

“What's the best Chinese herb for arthritis?”

is a little like asking:

“What's the best tool for fixing my house?”

It depends considerably on whether the problem is a loose screw or a missing roof.

Acupuncture and Arthritis

Acupuncture is also commonly used as part of a Chinese medicine approach to musculoskeletal pain.

Treatment may include acupuncture points near the painful joint as well as points elsewhere on the body chosen according to the underlying pattern.

For osteoarthritis—particularly knee osteoarthritis—research suggests acupuncture can provide pain relief for some people, although results vary and it should be viewed as one possible part of an overall treatment plan rather than a cure for damaged joints.

Movement, physical therapy, appropriate exercise, weight management when relevant, and conventional medical care can all remain important.

Chinese medicine doesn't require you to choose sides.

Keep Moving—Within Reason

Arthritic joints generally don't appreciate being completely ignored.

Gentle regular movement helps maintain flexibility and strength. Walking, swimming, tai chi, stretching, and appropriate strength exercises may all be useful depending on the person's condition.

The key word is appropriate.

If a joint is suddenly red, extremely swollen, severely painful, or difficult to bear weight on, that isn't the moment to prove your dedication to exercise.

When Arthritis Needs Medical Attention

Joint pain isn't always ordinary wear and tear.

Seek medical evaluation for unexplained or persistent joint pain, particularly when there is:

• Sudden severe pain

• Significant redness or swelling

• Fever

• A hot joint

• Rapid worsening

• New weakness or numbness

• Significant injury

• Multiple swollen joints

• Symptoms suggesting rheumatoid arthritis, gout, infection, or another systemic condition

Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture can be used alongside appropriate conventional care, but a proper diagnosis matters.